I have finally received my Irish Working Holiday Authorization! After many emails and calls to the consulate and more than one mini panic attack, I have in my hand the laminated piece of paper that will give me the ability to work for an entire year. 

I sent the application in March 18th and received my acceptance on May 25th. At this point I was required to send the consulate copies of my plane tickets (to and from Ireland) as well as proof of insurance for the duration of my time period there.

After emailing them the same day with copies of the documents requested, I was pleased to discover my WHA in my hands by May 27th! 

All in all it took a little over eight weeks to get approved. So, if you’re planning your year abroad, make sure to apply at least 2 months ahead of your departure date. It seems it was actually a blessing in disguise that I didn’t do the Au Pair position I initially hoped for, because both my passport and working authorization wouldn’ve still been processing within the Irish Consulate!

So, now that the WHA is all sorted, I’ve also secured my spot for Stint Ireland. A group that helps coordinate internships and gap years for college students and recent grads!

I officially booked my place with them, including a room in one of their awesome Stint Houses in a trendy little part of Dublin called Portobello!

So things are on the up and up and I can’t wait for my new departure date June 27th!

**Side note — in an earlier post, when I was first applying for my visa, I was wondering whether I needed to provide proof of a flight all the way to your home country (which is the United States in my case) or just out of Ireland. I finally got my answer, which is it just has to be out of Ireland not necessarily back to your country of origin.